Team Bonding: The Mall
by Cookies2Cream
Summary: With the Team not getting along well outside of missions Black Canary insists they spend more time as a team, outside of the cave. What better place than the Mall? Of course team bonding situations aren't always what they appear to be…
1. Security Check - Part 1

… _especially once you've found a common enemy._

 _MOUNT JUSTICE_

 _SEPTEMBER 10, 16:21 EDT_

Black Canary strolled into the cave and was instantly hit by dead silence. The cave was eerily quiet, strangely quiet, especially, for a day where the whole team was present. Typically, the teenagers would be around talking, or arguing, until they were called for training, but today… there was nothing.

The smile that was plastered to her face slipped off. _This is not good_ , she thought, as she headed toward the training room.

As predicted the room was vacant. Canary felt her stomach turn. The eerie silence, the deserted cave… they were all signs of disaster.

The last few times she walked into the hollowed mountain only to find it silent had resulted in chaos. One time, every room had been a mess, another it had looked as if the cave had been flooded, and the worst so far was when the cave had become a habitat for birds and baby chickens. Although, that hadn't been as silent, she would never forget those horrifying images.

After the first ridiculous explanation she had learned not to ask, the truth was only ever one thing, always the sole reason laid with boredom.

Boredom resulted in disaster. However, what worried her most was how it caused the teens to take it out on one another or set pranks on each other. Not to mention the all-out war. It was never good, despite the responsible nature and maturity earned through their dangerous and perilous jobs as heroes, they were still teenagers. Ultimately, the risk of the youths allowing their personal vendettas to affect their hero personas, was just too dangerous.

Canary couldn't fathom a worse situation to be in at the moment, a disagreeable team was about as cooperative as a hurricane.

She started toward the holographic computer only to be frozen by a chorus of shouts and yells.

She sighed, it wasn't just boredom… it was much worse. It was the aftermath of boredom.

 _20 Minutes Later…_

"This is getting _way_ out of hand. Not only was the kitchen on fire, but you're all sending one another murderous looks while I'm speaking," lectured Black Canary, she moved in front of Artemis.

"Artemis! The arrow, hand it over," the fifteen-year-old shot one last glare at Wally before passing over the arrow.

Canary slid to Robin and Wally. "You two," she barked making both boys jump and stand straight. "You're supposed to be best friends and yet you violate the rules of friendship."

Wally stared up at the blonde in confusion. Instead of answering she held up the box of pink dye.

Wally turned to his friend, his eyes wide in shock. "Dude, seriously?"

Before Robin could answer, Canary continued with the lecture.

"I think a team building activity is the best option. You'll be out of the cave, far away from the confines of the mountain and spending time together," exclaimed Black Canary. "You should do something normal. Be average teenagers for once… well, as close to average as you can get," she said the end awkwardly. After all Wally was a metahuman, Robin had been fighting criminals since he was nine and Artemis had a family of villains. Not to mention that Kaldur spent most of his life underwater, originating from Atlantis, Connor was a teenage clone, who, in reality, was less than a year old, and M'gann was an alien, whose education of Earth was through retro television shows.  
Normal just didn't have a place in their lives.

"Okay, where should we go?" M'gann asked optimistically, excited at the idea of participating in normal Earth activities with her closest friends. She was the only one not glaring or shuffling away from a fellow team mate.

They all froze, deep in thought about what they should do. After several minutes of silence and Black Canary staring at statues, she decided to leave. As she exited she called out, "If you can't think of anything, you could just go to the mall."

"Who votes on going to the mall, say aye!" Robin said. "AYE!" The rest of the team cheered.

YJ:TB:TM

 _HAPPY HARBOR_

 _SEPTEMBER 10, 16:51 EDT_

"I can't believe Canary kicked us out of the cave," Artemis grumbled.

As punishment (one of their many) they had not been allowed to take the Bioship, instead they were making do on foot, heading to Happy Harbor Mall.

"Dude my clothes… pink! How could you?" Wally asked the thirteen-year-old he once considered to be his best friend.

Robin shrugged. "Sorry KF but after the deal with your hair last week I couldn't resist"

Wally groaned, and turned to Artemis.

The blonde archer folded her arms. "I told you it wasn't me. I don't stoop that low, unlike _you_."

Wally turned back to Robin. "We're not supposed to turn on each other, or did you miss out on that lesson in Bro-school."

Connor sent a glare towards Wally. "Better then spray painting monkeys on Sphere."

Kaldur cut in before anyone could say anything else.

"Enough," he said. "We have arrived."

The six of them silently walked through the automatic doors of the mall. The place was filled with all sorts of people, some rushing while others walked leisurely (annoying those in a rush at the same time). The scent of food was wafting from the food court, mingling with the smell of perfumes and cleaning agents, with a slight trace of body odour. The sound of conversation and light music added a nice touch to the atmosphere.

It was pleasant, it was comfortable, and it was calming.

The Team had 5 seconds to take this all in before a security guard ushered them to the side. "Line up please," he very likely ordered. He was about the same height as Kaldur, with thick brown eye brows and hair.

"Did we do something?" Connor asked. Eyebrows, however, acted as if he hadn't spoke at all, instead he flipped through the papers of a clip board before questioning them.

"Answer the questions please. Do you live within the Happy Harbor district?"

"Some of us do, some of us don't." Wally shrugged.

"Are you between the ages of 12 to 22?"

"Yeah… is there a reason for-"

"Through the metal detectors!" he bellowed, waving his arms, cutting off Wally mid-sentence. Ushering them again to where a couple of other mall cops stood with arched detectors.

"Why are we being scanned?" Artemis asked, "This is a mall not an airport."

"You are not at liberty to know."

Kaldur spoke up. "We only wish to know the reason behind this public interrogation."

"No speaking!" he barked.

They all went through the scanner in silence, each portraying some degree of anger. It wasn't until afterwards that anyone noticed Robin and Artemis were suddenly gone.

* * *

 **A/N:** **If anyone has read my Team Bonding: The Band fanfic, well I finally got the Mall one up. YAY!**


	2. Security Check - Part 2

… _especially once you've found a common enemy._

 _HAPPY HARBOR MALL_

 _SEPTEMBER 10, 17:05 EDT_

The remaining members of the Team migrated toward the line of shops. The security had drenched their already dampened moods. The four of them didn't want another confrontation, they couldn't add anymore discrepancies to the ever growing list or the League was sure to ground the Team.

M'gann had gone to Forever 16, looking for new styles as the single outfit she shifted her organic clothing into was too repetitive, according to her cheerleading teammates. Wally had practically dragged Connor to Adidas, claiming that just because he bought several copies of the same shirt didn't mean he should do the same with his shoes.

This left Kaldur awkwardly lingering between the two stores, shifting from foot to foot, his eye's glazing over the people around. He was itching to ask Miss Martian where Robin and Artemis were, but the only way she could possibly know was if she had disregarded the declaration of not invading their thoughts, anymore. Still, it was preferred to standing around with nothing to do.

He had barely made it halfway to Forever 16 when his path was blocked by familiar eyebrows, attached to a familiar security guard. Eyebrows gave him a level glare.

"You're wearing quite a bit of clothing for summer son. Care to explain?"

The guard attempted to narrow his eyes at the teen but all Kaldur noticed was the caterpillar of a mono brow that formed on the man's forehead.

YJ:TB:TM

"What did you do?" Artemis asked accusingly.

The non-powered duo of the Team were weaving their way through shoppers and employees, trying to lose any tails. Artemis and Robin were the last to march through the metal detectors, and while no alarms rang for either teen, there were enough suspicious looks being thrown their way for them to catch on.

"I couldn't have them finding my utility bet. I tried to use a device to loop the readings but it went wrong."

 _At least he sounds apologetic, unlike hair brush thief_ , she thought.

Robin stopped. He glanced around once, fluently scanning the area before he slipped past a door and into the stairwell. Artemis right behind him.

"Let me guess," she said. "You activated it when their attention was on me so they wouldn't notice you. And now, they're after us _both_ because your device sucks and both of our reading's glitched."

"Not my best decision. Come on this floor." He shoved the door open to reveal two security personal barely ten feet away. "Or not."

YJ:TB:TM

"Look son I don't care how cold you are, no one wears high collars and gloves in summer."

Kaldur opened his mouth.

"Eleven days before fall isn't a reasonable response. I'd think long and hard about this son."

Kaldur closed his mouth.

He would think long and hard. Very long.

YJ:TB:TM

"Hey look at this one! This is great, or this, you'll love this." Wally's smile was wide enough to make the Joker proud.

Connor stared disinterestedly at the ever growing pile of box cases. "I don't think I should use League funds for video games."

Wally stopped and gave cloned alien his most sincere look.

"This is not for fun. It's therapy."

Connor scowled and dumped the plastic boxes onto a shelf, apathetic to the careful order and design of the shelf's contents.

"Hey I'm just saying. You have anger issues and science has proven that violent video games are better for reducing anger then shouting at someone."

"Oh I'm way past shouting."

YJ:TB:TM

Meanwhile the two youngest members of the Team were casually but speedily making their way to the closest multipurpose store. The two guards hadn't so much as glimpsed their way yet had followed them through every twist and turn of the complex. Luck was on their side as they entered a store which kept clothing displayed at the back, as far as possible from the entrance, providing a little extra time for a disguise.

Robin was prepared to take charge of the situation, after all Artemis didn't have anywhere near the improvisation experience he did. Yet it took the young woman less than twenty seconds to slip on sunglasses, pull out her hair tie, jam on a hat and grab a long coat from the rack.

"Well don't just stand there with your mouth open," she called out to him, not even sparing a glance toward him.

Luck, however, had run off as soon as it saw the two mall cops approaching.

In a haste Robin dived into a shopping cart piled with clothes, and dug himself in.

Luck came running back.

Artemis, who was setting her collar before a mirror, and the clothing pile encapsulating Robin weren't spared a single glance as the guards passed by.

Simultaneous sighs of relief were heard from the buried acrobat and disguised archer.

The blonde turned from her full-length reflection to the shopping cart, prepared to fish out her friend, or maybe just tip the cart over for almost getting them caught. However, a young female shop assistant suddenly blocked Artemis's path.

The assistant waved a hand toward the cart. "These were all discarded in the change rooms. You'll find all the items on the shelves." The young woman said, smiling politely before wheeling away Artemis's team mate.

YJ:TB:TM

 _What would I look like with a beard? A short, light beard… with sideburns. No, too evil._

"I don't have all day son."

Kaldur snapped back to attention.

 _Right. Focus. I need an excuse. Something reasonable…_

YJ:TB:TM

Connor's fists were clenched at his sides. He didn't want to participate in team building activities. He didn't want to be at the mall, first being pestered about shoes and now virtual games. All he wanted was to go back to the Cave and remove every speck of the spray on paint from Sphere. The culprit of which stood right before him and he had not been allowed a single punch of revenge for the innocent AI technology.

A hand on his shoulder snapped him out of his aggressive musings.

"Starting a brawl are we?" A woman about 3 decades old and taller than the two boys asked nodding to the clone's tight fists. She was dressed in black slacks and a similarly dark button up shirt, a mirror of the clothing worn by the security personal who lurked at the mall entrance.

 _Uh oh, time for an excuse._

Wally swiftly addressed the guard who was stoic as the rest. "No brawls here. He's just upset because we couldn't find a game we really wanted."

The guard looked thoughtful for a moment.

"A game you couldn't find or a brawl to distract us. Giving you time to steal the games."

 _What the hell?_

YJ:TB:TM

The caterpillar of a mono brow gravitated higher on Eyebrow's forehead.

"Let me get this straight. You're from a Mediterranean island on the equator but you just moved here, and the weather is too cold for you?"

The young Atlantean stared at the security personal straight in the eyes.

"Yes. That's correct."

His parents would be so disappointed with his dishonesty. _But what would they think about a beard?_

YJ:TB:TM

M'gann was at peace. Sure her friends were agreeable at the moment but that would pass. It always did.

The Martian was walking through the mall, passing shops, lost in thought with her own feelings of excitement over human fashion and being happy in life when it reached her.

Her eyes widened. A green glow slide over the two orbs.

A bombardment of foreign feeling attacked her empathy.

 _Outrage and anger._

"We weren't stealing anything," a familiar voice cried. An employee of the game store was dragging Wally out by his collar while a security guard was guiding Connor, her hand firmly gripping his shoulder.

"Your theory doesn't make any sense. If we were staging a fight we would need a third person to actually get the stuff," Wally said, "In case you haven't noticed there's only two of us."

That was the wrong thing to say.

"So you're working with another kid." The guard suddenly grabbed a meek looking teenager who had been trying to slink away from the drama. She had him grabbed by the collar with her remaining hand.

"Is it him?"

Outrage and anger were joined by aggravation.

 _Worry._

Kaldur was at her side. "We have to stop them before–"

Eyebrows stalked toward them. "Son, I wasn't done talking to you."

 _Apprehension and irritation._

Robin and Artemis were nearby.

M'gann took a deep breath. Thoughts were one thing but blocking emotions, especially strong emotions, of people she was occasionally mentally linked with, was impossible.

"WE DIDN'T DO ANYTHING" Connor yelled.

Anger flared, within the teenage telepath, it obliterated her own feelings and consumed the lingering emotions of the four Earthling team members. Her vision blurred. Pins and needles consumed her legs and she felt the world tilt.

As team leader it was Kaldur's responsibility to take charge and give orders. When everything fell to pieces, Kaldur knew exactly what order to give his teammates.

M'gann had fallen sideways. She'd stumbled into Eyebrows and another mall cop, who tried to catch her but ended up having his tablet sent crashing into the tiles, while Eyebrows had been knocked into an old lady and blind kid.

Robin's eyes had widened as his sunglasses were knocked off him, distorting his chestnut wig and sending his cane sliding across the floor.

Artemis looked ready for combat as she stood from having slid under Eyebrow's elbow, her back had been arched backward, in a limbo, which no old lady could manage.

Wally had snatched his arm free, from the employee, then freed the innocent civilian from the security woman's grasp.

Connor had balled his fist once more and threw it into the game store employee's face, as soon as the security released him, while simultaneously jamming his shoulder into second approaching guard.

Kaldur's order was perfect.

"RUN." And he was sprinting to the exit.

YJ:TB:TM

 _HAPPY HARBOR_

 _SEPTEMBER 10, 17:43 EDT_

Once they reached the nearest zeta tube Kaldur stopped. He stood blocking the 'out of door' phone booth and stared at the ground.

"Wait. I must tell all of you something. I, by pure accident, dropped the contents of some bottles in the shower cabinet. Then, I mixed other solutions into the bottles as a replacement," Kaldur confessed, then quickly entered the zeta tube. "One of them may have been pink dye. Bye!"

 _Recognised: Aqualad B-Zero-Two_

"Huh! Told you it wasn't me!" exclaimed Artemis, as Wally yelled, "That was you!" But it was too late, Kaldur had already vanished in a flash of radiation.

Wally turned to Artemis who was smirking.

"Artemis…" he started sheepishly, but something else dawned on him. "Why was their pink hair dye in the shower cabinet?"

Artemis, who thought she was going to receive an apology, glared. She was about to say something when she realised what he said. "Yeah…"

"Oh, hello Megan! That's where my pink food colouring went."

Nobody asked how pink food colouring ended up in the shower cabinet.

* * *

 **A/N: Merry Christmas!**

 **I have changed the day and time because I checked and they actually had something on the previous date I used.**

 **Thanks to all those who reviewed!**


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